Kickstarter of the Week: Wands

I’ll be the first to admit it, when I heard about a card game that was called a mashup between Magic: The Gathering and Uno, my first thought was “Seriously?” But once I got to the campaign page for our newest Kickstarter of the Week, I was sucked in pretty quickly. Wands, a fast paced, fantasy card game for 2-5 players actually looks pretty interesting and, I must say, I love the artwork. Quickly looking through the rules to see how it plays, it became clear that Wands would make a great game to play when I’m in the mood for something light and quick. I think this could also be a game that would be accessible to gamers and non-gamers alike.

From the Kickstarter Page:

You play the role of a witch or wizard, engaged in a magical battle with your opponents. You and your rivals start with 10 life points each. Using a combination of Blasts (unblockable magicks), Spells, and Counter-Spells, you try to reduce your opponents to zero life points and be the last spellcaster standing.

If you cast a Spell, opponents have a chance to cast their Counter-Spells. Multiple Counter-Spells can be cast on each other, adding more damage and greater effects, shifting effects, or canceling them altogether. Imagine one of the wand battles from the Harry Potter movies and you get the idea. It’s quite fun to cast a spell on your buddy, watch someone shift the effects to someone else and add to it, watch someone else shift the effects to yet another player, watch someone dispel that shift, watch the next person dispel that shift, and finally, you shift it back to the original target.

Wands is best with two to five players. Games can be as short as a couple of minutes, and it shouldn’t take more than ten minutes for anyone to learn the rules.

If you are looking for a quick playing game with some really great looking, comic style artwork, then Wands is worth a look. A $15 pledge (plus shipping) will get you a copy of the game and any stretch goals (if they add any). Wands is scheduled to be in backers hands in June of 2014 and you have until Sunday, Dec 8th to become a backer. So head over today if you’d like to pledge.

Occasionally Board Game Quest receives a review copy of a game from the publisher. This doesn't influence our opinion of the game or its rating.

Our Rating System

5 – Fantastic Game, A must-play game. 4-4.5 – Great Game, might have some minor flaws 3-3.5 – Good Game. Does a lot right, but some weaknesses too 2-2.5 – An OK Game. Some redeeming qualities, but they might be outweighed by the negatives. 1-1.5 – Awful Game. Do not play this unless you want to punish yourself.